Month: January 2019

As far as creative matchmaking goes on the pay-per-view level, Saturday’s Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner fight offers an intriguing equation to fans who are considering buying it.

What happens when you mix an aging legend who just turned 40 against a perpetually underachieving talent who remains at the peak of his physical prime? In this case, it could mean fireworks considering the attractive clash in styles at welterweight between the counter-punching Broner (33-3-1, 24 KOs) and the aggressive Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs).

Add in the importance of the fight toward each of their respective careers and the potential prize that might await the winner (Floyd Mayweather?) and this crossroads duel from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (Showtime PPV, 9 p.m. ET) has become nothing short of must watch.

From the standpoint of star power, this is a fight that jumps off the page. But the potential for action and drama is just as interesting when considering Pacquiao’s recent resurgence when he ended a nine-year streak without a knockout by stopping Lucas Matthysse last July for a secondary WBA welterweight title and the nine-lives nature of Broner’s feast-or-famine talent.

Broner, 29, certainly has a deserved number of critics who believe he has never evolved above 135 pounds to the fighter he could’ve been despite winning four titles in as many divisions. Broner still lacks a defining victory on his resume and has lost badly each time he has stepped up against elite competition (Marcos Maidana, Shawn Porter, Mikey Garcia).

On the flip side, Broner has been his worst enemy outside of the ring and still has youth and an incredible amount of talent on his side should you believe, despite a bevy of legal troubles during training camp, that this is finally the time he takes his career seriously in the biggest fight of his career.

As is typically the case, Broner has said all the right things head of his first PPV headlining role.

“Growing up and seeing Pacquiao fight, of course I always wanted to fight him,” Broner said. “I’m a competitor. One day I want to be the best, and to be the best you have to beat the best. It starts here.

“This is my first PPV but I was always supposed to be here. God doesn’t make mistakes. After this victory, I will be taking over the sport of boxing. This is just the beginning.”

Why is Manny Pacquiao still fighting at age 40? What does he have left to prove? Hear the answer from Manny’s camp in Defiant: The Manny Pacquiao Obsession, only on SI TV.

Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner will meet in the ring Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (9 PM, Showtime PPV). Will Pacquiao (60–7–2, 39 KOs), who turned 40 in December, turn in a vintage performance and prevail? Or will Broner (33–3–1, 24 KOs), who is 11 years younger, play the role of spoiler and claim the WBA Welterweight Championship?